As a former Russellville High School Cyclone and Arkansas Tech University Wonder Boy, I am very proud of both school’s many achievements — academically, physically and athletically. Although I have been away from the Russellville area since 1980, I have kept up with the happenings at both schools, to include watching and listening to Internet broadcasts of their football and basketball games. This basketball season has been especially enjoyable with the Wonder Boys, Golden Suns and both Cyclone teams at or near 20-win seasons. In fact, with two regular season games to play, both Tech teams and the Cyclones boys are leading or have clinched a share of their respective conference championships! That’s quite a feat, and the Russellville community can rightfully be proud of these teams’ outstanding efforts during the 2011-12 season.

This brings me to the point of this correspondence. Last Saturday, Tech hosted the Henderson State Reddies in what were very significant games in terms of the inaugural Great American Conference (GAC) season. In perhaps the marquee match-ups of the season, Tech won both hardly-fought contests to secure the top spots in the men’s and women’s basketball standings as the regular season winds down. I watched both games on the Internet, and I was struck by the fact the crowd attending the games appeared a bit “light.” A check of box scores later confirmed this observation. Only about 1,050 fans were in the stands last Saturday to cheer and support these outstanding teams. I had expected there would be perhaps 2,500 or more in attendance based on the importance of these games in the GAC standings coupled with the fact Tech is having great (nationally ranked) seasons overall.

I’m at a loss to explain such weak fan support of two marvelously coached teams. During my four years at Tech (1972-76), we won something like 32 games, total, in four seasons. Contrast that with today where Tech routinely enjoys 20-win seasons and even 30-win seasons! The Golden Suns have won 20 or more games 30 times out of the last 35 seasons. This is a phenomenal record, and I doubt there are many women’s teams in the NCAA, any division, that can boast such a sustained record of success and consistency. Maybe the Tennessee Lady Vols. This marks the Wonder Boys’ fourth straight 20-win season, and four key players on their current roster are from Russellville and Dardanelle. Despite such a record of unparalleled success, Tech continues to only attract about 500-750 fans for most home games. Why is this important? I know from my playing days at RHS and Tech that “fans in the stands” means a lot to the players and coaches.

Bottom line: How can such hard-working and successful teams with a student enrollment approaching 10,000 in a community of almost 30,000 draw only “a grand” in fan support for a weekend clash having conference championship implications? To help generate more attendance, the Tech administration lowered tickets for conference games ($5), and today is the regular season finale at Tucker Coliseum against the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders. It’s Senior Night, and all Tech fans are encouraged to make a special effort to attend these games, especially for seniors like Matt Haney of Dardanelle.